November 25 is the birthday of Joe DiMaggio (born 1914). He still holds the
record for his hitting streak of 56 games in 1941. You all know about his major
leage career and marriage to Marylin Monroe.
But you probably don't know that prior to the Yankees, he
had a 61 game hitting streak when playing for the San Francisco Seals in the
Pacific Coast League (PCL). The Pacific Coast League is one of 3 Triple-A minor
leagues today. It has produced famous players, including Paul Waner, also a
Hall of Famer (1952).
Waner played for the Pirates, together with his brother
Lloyd. DiMaggio's brothers (Dom and Vince) also played in the majors. Turns
out the Waners hold the record for most hits by brothers (5611 combined) while
the DiMaggio brothers are third (4853). In between are the Alou brothers
(Felipe, Matty, and Jesus, 5094 combined).
Felipe did not play for the PCL. Originally signed by
the Giants, he started with the Minneapolis Millers, which was part of the
American Association. The American Association was disbanded in 1962 (though
revived between 1969 and 1997), and several teams joined the PCL, though not the
Minneapolis Millers. Several other famous players played for the Millers,
including Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and Carl Yaztrzemski.
The PCL suffered a setback in 1958, when the Giants moved
to San Francisco and the Dodgers started playing in LA, since its most successful teams,
inlcuding the Seals, were displaced. The Seals moved to Phoenix, and became the
minor leage affiliate of the Giants, and interestingly, Alou played for Phoenix
after Minneapolis and before entering the major leagues The PCL suffered a
further blow when regular season baseball games started being broadcast in 1958;
ironically, the first regular season game that was broadcast was a
Dodgers-Giants game played at Seals Stadium.
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